Rishi Sunak takes a stand in the trans debate during Piers Morgan interview

Rishi Sunak tonight waded into the transgender sporting row as the Prime Minister declared that ‘biological sex really matters’. 

The PM blasted unfairness of transgender athletes competing in women’s sport and insisted he ‘knows what an woman is – an adult human female’.

Speaking to Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Mr Sunak lashed out at the trans debate, saying ‘it doesn’t strike most people as being fair’.

‘Whether it’s sex, whether it’s women’s spaces, whether it’s prisons, biological sex really matters. And actually we saw that recently with what’s going on in Scotland,’ Mr Sunak added. 

Asked to define a woman, the PM said: ‘I’m married to one. I have two daughters. And it’s really important that they grow up in a society where their needs are respected, whether it’s, you know, how they want to be treated when they’re in changing rooms or sports, but also their safety.’

Rishi Sunak vowed to tackle the ‘ridiculous’ Channel migrant situation today as he faced off against Piers Morgan

During his interview, Mr Sunak vowed to tackle the ‘ridiculous’ Channel migrant situation today as he faced off against Piers Morgan.

In an interview to mark his first 100 days in office, the PM said his blueprint for overhauling the system would see asylum claims heard in ‘days or weeks’.

He told Talk TV the efforts to ‘break the cycle’ included a new deal with Albania – said to be the origin of 30 per cent of illegal migrants – and closer working with France.

And he insisted that the government’s plan for sending arrivals to Rwanda for processing will definitely go ahead. 

Ministers have made stopping the flow of small boats crossing the Channel a top priority, with Tory MPs warning that failure to get a grip will be disastrous at the next election.  

Speaking from his home in Downing Street, Mr Sunak said: ‘The system that we need, the system that I want to introduce, is one whereby if you come here illegally, you should be swiftly detained and then in a matter of days or weeks we will hear your claim, not months and years, and then we will safely remove you somewhere else. And if we do that, that’s how we’ll break the cycle.’

Pressed by Morgan on how he would make that happen, Mr Sunak said: ‘So, look, in the first 100 days what have we done, what have I done? 

‘I’ve got a new deal with France, which is increasing the amount of patrols that are happening on French beaches, which is making a difference already. 

Rishi Sunak was grilled by Piers Morgan (right) on everything from dealing with the migrant crisis and the war in Ukraine to ‘what makes a woman’ and whether Prince Harry should attend the King’s coronation

A group of people being brought ashore by border officers in Dover last month

‘Secondly, I’ve got a brand new deal with Albania. Albania accounted for 30 per cent of all illegal migrants.’

When Morgan observed that the figure was ‘ridiculous’, Mr Sunak said: ‘Of course that’s ridiculous. 

‘But I’ll work with the Albanians to put in place a new deal which means for people coming from Albania illegally, we’ll be able to remove them safely back to Albania and that is already happening. 

‘We’re putting illegal migrants from Albania back on flights and that will ratchet up over the year. And that’s tangible improvement in the situation. That deal is a new deal.’

Mr Sunak highlighted new legislation he is proposing to bolster the system. 

Almost 1,200 illegal migrants have crossed the Channel and arrived into the UK in 2023. Pictured is a group getting off a rescue boat in Dover

‘Very soon we’ll be introducing new laws into Parliament which deliver the system that I explained, the system which says if you come here illegally, you’re not really going to be able to stay here,’ he said.

‘So, what that new law will say is, if you come here illegally, for an illegal migrant here, then you will not be able to stay here and, in fact, we will be able to detain you and then we will hear your claim in a matter of days or weeks, not months or years and we will have the ability in the vast majority of cases to send you to an alternative safe country, be that where you come from, if it’s safe, like Albania, or, indeed, Rwanda.’

Asked whether the Rwanda idea is ‘ever going to happen’ after court challenges, the PM shot back: ‘Yes.’

Last year saw a record 45,728 migrants cross the channel, well up on the 28,381 who did so in 2021. 

So far 1,180 illegal migrants have made the perilous trip across the Channel this year, fractionally down compared to the 1,341 who arrived in January 2021. 

The migrants were brought into the Port of Dover this morning on Border Force vessel Typhoon

It comes as it was revealed in The Mail On Sunday that activists for charities are ‘continually frustrating’ French authorities in their attempts to stop the crossings.

Charities funded by well meaning Briton’s, who think they are donating towards hot meals and warm clothes for migrants, are actually being used to follow French police and reveal their activities and locations in footage available to people smugglers.

The charities say they are monitoring police to prevent them from committing human rights abuses, but Tory MP Lee Anderson has accused them of being as ‘bad as the people smugglers’ because they are in effect ‘aiding and abetting’ the illegal gangs.

These gangs raked in an eye-watering £183million from desperate migrants paying them to help them cross the channel last year, a report by the Labour Party suggests

The opposition pledged to crack down on organised crime groups – and their money – as it published figures on the profits being made in the evil trade.

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